New members welcomed to VOCA Board

The Village of Oakcreek Association held its Members Annual Meeting on April 18 where election results were announced. We welcome new board member Earl Svenningsen, in addition to our two incumbents Jim Kautz and Joe Jansen who were re-elected.

Jim Kautz also gave his Treasurer's Report for 2014. If VOCA members not able to attend the meeting, would like to read the full message or review Jim's report, please visit our vocaonline website for more information.

Below is an excerpt of my Annual President's Message:

It seems almost impossible that the time has passed so quickly and we are yet again completing an election cycle. For me personally, I find it hard to believe that I have already served two of my three-year term on the board. Though the time may have moved swiftly, there have been significant improvements made over this period, and the board, the committees, and the VOCA community, should be proud of our accomplishments. A big thank-you goes out to all who have helped in this success.

Last year in April, the board had day-to-day oversight of the general management responsibilities of the Village of Oakcreek Association (VOCA) and the Oakcreek Country Club (OCC).

As I address the membership today, we have what we consider a viable solution to the organizational gaps that have been prevalent for several years. We are confident that the current structure brings expertise, efficiency, consistency, and proficiency to our overall business, and these factors in turn should lead to longer-term sustainability.

The homeowner side of VOCA is now being managed by HOAMCO a homeowners association (HOA) management company that provides general management services to the VOCA community.

They perform all the functions related to running our HOA, including compliance, permits, and general administration.

They also support accounting and administrative functions for both the HOA and the golf course operations. HOAMCO and Deb (Community Association Manager) report to and take direction from the board, through the president of the board.

As for our golf operations: Bill Czekai has been recently promoted to General Manager/Superintendent Golf Operations. Bill will continue to build his organization and fill his open positions.

One of the most recent changes made on the Golf Shop side of OCC was to promote Heather Risk to Head Golf Professional, and Emanuel Radoccia to PGA First Assistant.

We congratulate all three of these individuals for their new roles, and would like to thank them for their dedication and support. Bill and his team also report to and take direction from the board, through the president of the board. OCC although owned by VOCA must financially stand on its own in accordance with our by-laws.

All expenses related to the golf course, are paid and accounted on the OCC side of the balance sheet. We often have VOCA members claiming that their annual assessments are being used to support the golf course. Be assured that none of your assessment dollars can be used to fund the OCC budget.

Redstone, the restaurant, is operated by 19th Hole LLC. They operate and staff the restaurant, they lease space from us, and we receive base rent plus a percentage of profits, which derive from revenue in excess of base rent proportions.

For all practical purposes, we serve similarly to a landlord, who is leasing space to a tenant. As the restaurant owner continues to book more weddings, work with hotels on special events, and gain traction in getting more customers, VOCA will benefit by the additional revenue from the percentage of their profits in excess of the minimum base rent requirement. We have no reason not to be optimistic that this model will continue in its current positive trajectory.

What's next? Unfortunately, part of next projects will include additional expenses that will be required to fix and update our facility. Many of the emergencies last year from roof to air conditioning unit repairs, resulted from several years of neglect and lack of maintenance.

Thanks to an extensive audit initiated by one of the members of the House and Grounds Committee, a priority list has now been put into place, which will be managed by Deb Brewer.

Our goal is to implement a more proactive and systematic approach to maintenance, one that will help us to budget appropriately on an annual basis, and minimize the emergencies and excess costs associated with deferred maintenance.

All in all, it appears that we are now in "great hands." With HOAMCO managing our HOA, Bill and team overseeing the golf operations, and with the help of our committees, the board should be able to focus more on the strategic aspects of the HOA and golf course in this upcoming year.

As a board, we will continue to have guiding principles that help us make decisions that are in the broad interest of our VOCA community, and that are sound in business judgment with fiscal conservatism and integrity as an underlying value.

We will communicate relevant and important information to the community, get feedback from our constituents, and exercise due diligence in remaining compliant with our By-laws and statutes.